Local officials warn regional security forces are overwhelmed as cross-border incursions leave communities vulnerable and infrastructure paralyzed
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — Local administrative structures in the Kore Zone of the South Ethiopia Region have declared themselves incapable of protecting civilian populations, stating that ongoing cross-border raids and property looting by armed groups from the West Guji Zone in Oromia have overwhelmed regional security forces.
Zonal and woreda officials confirmed that recurrent armed incursions between October 22 and 24, 2026, targeted several kebeles, including Jalo, Kore, and Shafula. The latest attacks resulted in four fatalities and five severe injuries, including a father and child as well as children aged seven to ten. On October 26, local residents held joint funerals for victims in Kore Kebele, while officials separately verified that a 14-year-old child and two household heads were killed in Jerlo Kebele. Over the past week alone, armed groups operating across the regional boundary have killed four civilians in Kore, injured three others, and stolen over 100 head of livestock, following similar attacks against agrarian communities in the neighboring Burji Zone.
Addressing the deteriorating situation, Gorka Woreda Administrator Melkamu Asfaw stated that the armed incursions are identity-based and ethnically targeted. Melkamu emphasized that the absence of federal security units leaves local communities vulnerable, noting that woreda authorities lack the operational capacity to safeguard their populations. Local security sources and regional administrators affirmed that while regional special strike forces deploy to contested border points, the scale of the insurgency exceeds regional capacities, necessitating direct federal intervention to restore stability.
The security collapse along the Oromia–South Ethiopia boundary has severely disrupted commercial transit and vital infrastructure. Residents reported that the main arterial highway connecting Kore Zone to Dilla has remained closed for 11 years due to lingering security threats, forcing commercial transport to reroute through Arba Minch. Demonstrating the ongoing danger along transport corridors, an Isuzu commercial truck driver was shot and killed on the route on October 26. Officials and bereaved families noted that regional police routinely arrive long after attackers retreat across the zonal border, leaving border communities trapped in chronic insecurity and displacement.
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